Restless Waters by Jessica Speart

always wanted to be a beachboy in Waikiki,” he confided.
    I looked at him in disbelief. “A beachboy?”
    “Yeah, you know. Sort of a combination of Baywatch hunk and American Gigolo. The trick is to use the talents you’ve got. Think about it. There are lots of lonely women with plenty of dough that come to Waikiki on vacation. I’m the perfect guy to make them feel like hot babes again. Talent like mine deserves to be well compensated. So, what do you say? Got any strings you can pull for me?”
    I figured any woman that fell for his charms probably deserved what she got.
    “As a matter of fact, I do. Dolph Trask is a friend of mine,” I disclosed.
    “Get outta here! No shit! That dude’s legendary.”
    “Well, I’ll give you an introduction. But first you have to keep your end of the bargain. Have we got a deal?”
    “To hang with Dolph Trask? Absolutely. That’s wicked cool,” Dwayne said, his gold tooth gleaming in the dark.
    “All right, then. Just don’t pull anything funny. Or I’ll see to it that you share a cell with the biggest, meanest bubba around,” I advised, and unlocked the handcuffs.
    Dwayne massaged his wrist. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t sweat the small stuff.”
    I wrote down my cell phone number and handed it to him. “Here. Call me on this line.”
    “Okay, babe,” he agreed, and took the paper from me.
    Funny how quickly I’ve switched from being a bitch to being a babe, I thought, while picking up the bag of geckos by his feet.
    “Hey, wait a minute! I’m gonna need those things. Otherwise, my boss will be super pissed,” he protested.
    The guy was probably right. More important, I didn’t want to screw up a possible meeting.
    “All right, but this is the last batch of reptiles that you catch for now. And I expect to hear from you by tomorrow,” I advised, turning on my flashlight to leave.
    “Yeah, yeah. Got it,” Dwayne muttered, and reached for the bag, his hand penetrating the pool of light.
    The beam revealed nails that were bitten down to the quick. But it was his fingertips that captured my interest. They were blistered and burnt—a sure sign that he was spending far too much time clutching hold of a hot “ice pipe.” No wonder he was happy with five bucks a lizard. It was just enough to provide him with a steady flow of crystal meth.
    “Remember, I’m trusting you on this,” I warned, more aware than ever that I was dealing with a loose cannon. “Don’t screw up on me. Otherwise, I swear to God, I’ll hunt you down and put you away in a place where no one will ever find you.”
    Dwayne nodded, swung the bag over his shoulder, and split.

Six
    I walked back to my SUV and was on my way down the mountain when my cell phone rang. It couldn’t possibly be Dwayne this soon. Hopefully, it was Santou calling to make up.
    “Hello?” I answered, ready for the first words that I heard to be “I’m sorry.”
    Instead, I was startled to hear an unfamiliar male voice.
    “Hi. This is Sammy Kalahiki, the guy that you spoke with on Pier 32 this afternoon.”
    So much had happened since then, that I had to stop and think for a moment.
    “Remember? You asked if I needed help?”
    Right. The Hawaiian guy that was being hassled by the fishing crew.
    “Yes. I remember.” I was puzzled as to why he was calling now. This was the same guy who had run away from me.
    “Well, I’ve decided that I do.”
    “What? Need help?” I asked, still somewhat confused. My sole intention had been to give him a lift off the docks. “Sorry, but you do realize that I’m a Fish and Wildlife agent,don’t you? It’s probably best that you call the police, if you’re in some kind of trouble.”
    “They’re not going to help me,” Kalahiki said in a bitter tone. “Apparently, no one is. Forget about it. Sorry to have bothered you.”
    Shit. I was a complete sucker when it came to guilt trips.
    “No, wait a minute. Don’t hang up. I just wanted to make sure that you realized who